Another 5 million vehicles recalled over potentially faulty Takata airbags

Move linked to death of Ford Ranger driver last month
By
Auto123.com ,
2016-01-23

Another 5 million vehicles with potentially defective Takata Corp. airbags were recalled on Friday, prompted in part by the death of a man driving a Ford Ranger Pickup last month.

The latest move by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) brings the total number of vehicles affected in the United States to 24 million, and 28 million Takata airbag inflators, according to Reuters.

The recalls affect several automakers for the first time, including Volkswagen and Audi, as well as Mercedes-Benz and Saab.

Cars from Ford, Honda, Mazda and BMW were also part of the recalls, which was made in two batches.

One million of the vehicles recalled had the same defective inflators in the driver-side airbags as in the Ford Ranger involved in the fatal accident.

The driver’s death, which happened on Dec. 22 in South Carolina, was the tenth fatality linked to Takata’s air bag inflators. Nine of the 10 have occurred in the United States, but the December incident was the first in a brand other than Honda.

The other 4 million vehicles affected by the recalls are the result of additional testing on driver-side airbags. They include vehicles from Honda and Volkswagen.

Some of the vehicles that were recalled Friday may have covered by earlier recalls, but an exact figure was not provided by the NHTSA.

The spate of recalls are a result of the fact Takata’s inflators may explode with too much force, which causes metal shrapnel to be propelled into the vehicle.